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Rain washes out tilt vs. D-backs in third inning

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By Spencer Fordin
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MLB.com |

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The weather played havoc with the schedule for the Angels on Friday, chasing them inside for their morning workout and delaying the start of their game against Arizona by a half hour. The game finally started, but it was washed out during a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the third by a torrential downpour.

The weather even featured some hail on Friday afternoon, but manager Mike Scioscia was thrilled that the game got underway. Starter Joe Blanton threw three innings and got his work in, and Scioscia made sure that the D-backs got their own pitchers a chance to work before calling it quits.

"Believe me, we milked about every pitch we could out of today," said Scioscia, who later relayed that Blanton finished up his workday in the bullpen. "We got something accomplished."

The rain was bad enough in the morning that Scioscia was unsure if the Angels would get the game in, and he said that the alternative was for Blanton to throw a simulated game. The Angels had originally scheduled six of their regulars to play, but they pulled all of them two hours before game time.

Scioscia met with Arizona counterpart Kirk Gibson before the game, and they discussed which pitchers had to work and how much of the game they could get in. The top of the first went by without incident, but it started pouring in the bottom half and became heavier by the third inning.

"During the regular season, you would play through it," said Scioscia. "But it's something you don't really deal with in the spring. You very rarely have to except when some pitchers need some work. If it was a situation where he needed 90-to-100 pitches, it wouldn't have even been worth doing."

Moments after the players left the field, solid pieces of hail began coming down, instantly validating the decision to scrub the rest of the game. Kaleb Cowart, one of the Angels' best prospects, said he was inside once the hail started coming down and that the conditions weren't that bad on the field.

"It wasn't the best in the world. It got a little bad in the end in my last at-bat," said Cowart. "You've got to hang with them just like you do sometimes during the season. It was raining a little bit. It wasn't too bad. The wind was kind of cold, but that's part of the game. It got a little slippery, but not too bad."

Spencer Fordin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.